Baseball and the American Dream

One particular American sport arguably surpasses all others in reflecting U.S. society: the national pastime -- baseball. Roger Angell has suggested, "Baseball seems to have been invented solely for the purpose of explaining all other things in life". It has uniquely mirrored the trends within our culture and has been associated with "The American Dream" in all of its permutations. Baseball has been an arena in which the mightiest struggles of our society -- equal rights regardless of race, nationality, or gender -- have been played out. Editor Robert Elias has woven together a collection of essays of exceptional diversity to look at how baseball and the American Dream have connected through history to the present day, as well as providing a signpost to the future of baseball in American popular culture. Featuring articles by former players such as Orlando Cepeda and Dusty Baker (currently the manager for the San Francisco Giants), legendary journalists such as Leonard Koppett, Andrei Codrescu, and Roger Kahn, and contemporary scholars such as Jules Tygiel, Gai Berlage, and Samuel Regalado, this volume provides a unique and valuable perspective on baseball and its distinctive place in American culture.